I’m unfamiliar with the term field arrest. If I get this right, this is what happens when you get arrested for a misdemeanour on site, cited and then immediately let go? Possibly with a requirement of turning up to a police station for booking, or to a court date?

I read a bit of the paper, and it seems they are simply using the data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997.

The relevant NLS topical guide says the following:

NLSY97 youth respondents are asked whether they have ever been arrested by the police or taken into custody for an illegal or delinquent offense (not including arrests for minor traffic violations) and the total number of times this has happened.

And looking up the phrasing in the questionnaire is also exactly the same

Have you ever been arrested by the police or taken into custody for an illegal or delinquent offense (do not include arrests for minor traffic violations)?

So I guess it would depend on whether respondents consider a field arrest an arrest and report it.